F1: Rosberg eyes back-to-back wins as local teams gear up for Bahrain

Nico Rosberg

James Beckett

Published:13:12Wednesday 30 March 2016

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After taking victory in the season-opening round of the FIA F1 World Championship in Australia two weeks ago, Nico Rosberg is keen to add another success to his early 2016 tally when he heads to Bahrain for this weekend’s Grand Prix.

Overcoming the challenge of his team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, around Melbourne’s Albert Park track, Rosberg stormed to an impressive win for the Brackley-based Mercedes AMG Petronas team.

He said this week: “Winning in Australia was great for me. It allowed me to start my season well, and to win the first race of any season is always a good feeling.

“I know that Lewis is going to be very fast again this weekend in Bahrain, but I am determined to win and keep my winning record going for a while longer.”

After dominating qualifying in Australia, reigning world champion Hamilton had been expected to perform well in the season opening race, but he fell short of Rosberg’s performance.

He said: “The first race of the year was not quite as good as I hoped or expected, but despite a bad day in the office I still managed to finish second and score good points.

“Having a bad day, and still finishing second is not so bad. At the end of the year every point counts, and who know, the points I scored for that second place might be the points to win me another title.”

The Silverstone-based Sahara Force India team also started the season well and will be eager to impress again with Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez.

Hulkenberg said: “I was happy to score points in Australia, and the team really deserved them. The VJM09-Mercedes is a good car, and I think we could be in a position to challenge for a top six result this weekend.”

Bicester-based Toro Rosso saw both of their drivers finish inside the top ten in Australia, and Carlos Sainz Jr. and Max Verstappen are both full of confidence for this weekend.

Verstappen said: “We have good pace from the 2015-specification Ferrari engine and our car seems to work well.

“We are both looking for the points obviously this weekend, and would like to finish inside the top ten to maintain our 100 per cent point-scoring record for the new season.”